Bhindi (Okra/Ladies' finger) Masala

Bhindi masala is one of the most common Indian dishes which is equally scrumptious and healthy as well. It is mildly spicy with a blast of flavors. This simple dish is made of some common ingredients easily found in any Indian kitchen like bhindi (with no doubt ;) ), onions, sun-dried red chilies, tomatoes, and some regular Indian spices. The detailed recipe is elucidated below, so don't worry I have mentioned every single ingredient there.  

Bhindi Masala fry can be served in lunch as well as dinner. And it goes really well with roti/chapati, Jowar (Sorgulam) roti, or rice. Even many kids have a soft spot for bhindi (including me too when I was a kid) and demands this mouth-watering dish to be packed in their school tiffin boxes. And since bhindi is a healthy veggie and has added health benefits, Indian moms don't usually reject such demands unless bhindi is not available in their refrigerator. I remember when I was a kid I was getting bhindi almost once a weak in my tiffin box and guess what I used to love it. This dish proves the fact that even simple Indian veg dishes can be delightful. 

This dish is inspired by my maternal aunt. On a fine day when I went to see her, She served us this dish as a complementary dish to the main course but this dish was so perfectly packed a package of flavor and delight, that soon she was showered with compliments for this yum dish. And after I had my meal, the first thing I did was complimented her and asked for a detailed recipe. And then it was just a matter of 4 days and I tried this recipe in my kitchen too and it was just perfect. Well, I can't match her perfection but what I tried was delicious too.

Detailed Recipe

Ingredients checklist:

1. 250gm fresh and young bhindi (Okra/ladies' fingers)
2. 1/2 medium tomatoes (skin pilled for puree)
3. 2-3 medium-size onions 
4. Sun-dried red chilies - 3 (mildly spicy)
5. fresh coriander leaves
6. Oil
7. Turmeric
8. Mutton masala/ any Garam Masala
9. Red chili powder
10. Coriander powder
11. Ginger garlic paste
12. Cumin seeds
13. Black mustard seeds
14. Garlic cloves
15. Green chilies - 2
16. Salt
17. ginger
18. Dry coriander seeds (Dhana)

Let's get going with preparation now,

• Bhindi

1. A very first and important step for the best bhindi dish (any) is buying fresh and young bhindis. I want to give a small tip here. To check if a bhindi is fresh and young, try to break the tip of the bhindi with your thumb, if it easily breaks then you keep that one, and if it doesn't break then that bhindi is not young for sure and you need to leave such bhindi back. You got to choose only those which are young and fresh. Alright, so now we have fresh and young bhindi with us, let's move ahead.
2. Wash the bhindi with clean water and wipe off with a clean kitchen towel to remove the moisture. Next, chop both ends and discard them. Cut every bhindi into only two parts or at most three parts not more than that. 
3. Once you are done with cutting the bhindi, heat up a pan on mild flame with half a tablespoon of oil. You can use any oil (soybean, groundnut, sunflower, rice bran, etc.). Put all the bhindis in that pan and let it cook for 5-8 minutes until they turn soft. Keep turning the bhindis with a spatula from time to time. After they turn soft, turn off the flame and transfer all the contents into a separate bowl.

• Masala/Gravy

1. For tomato puree, we need to have peeled off tomatoes. But it's not easy to peel off a tomato directly. So how do we do that? It's easy! Take a tomato and place a small cross-cut on the bottom of the tomatoes, if you look, it looks like "X". Place these tomatoes in hot water for 2 minutes and take them off. Now try to peel off the tomatoes from the spot we made a cross-cut. Now that's easy, right?
2. Cut the peeled-off tomatoes into small dices and transfer them to the grinder/mixer. Blend them well till you see a fine puree. You can use a little water too. Place this puree aside and let's move to masala preparation.
3. Cut the onions into medium size dices.
4. Transfer all the onions to the mixer jar. Add 3 sun-dried red chilies, 1 teaspoon of coriander seeds, 3-4 garlic cloves, 2-3 small dices of ginger to the same mixer jar. Blend this entire content well to a fine paste. Use a small amount of water while blending. 

• Bhindi Masala Preparaton

1. Put a pan on medium flame (You can use the same pan used for bhindi too if it is of enough size). Add 2 - 3 tablespoons of oil once the pan is hot. 
2. Add mustard seeds and cumin seeds to this hot oil and let it crackle for a moment. After they stop crackling, add 1 tablespoon of ginger garlic paste and saute it for 10 seconds, now add the blended masala paste to the pan and saute for a few more seconds. Now, add the blended tomato puree to the masala and saute it for another minute more. Add 1/4 teaspoon of turmeric, 1 - 2 teaspoons of red chili powder (depending on the level of spiciness you want), 1 and a half teaspoon of garam masala powder, preferably Suhana mutton masala/ Any available garam masala powder. (LOL, this blog is not sponsored by Suhana masala but it's just that I like this masala powder than other competitors in the market). 
3. Wash the green chilies well and put a slit on them in the middle. Add these 2 green chilies to the masala in the pan. Add a little water according to need. Water should be less than 1/4th cup to make thick masala. Let the masala cook well for about 6-8 minutes until you see little oil on the surface or around the masala. Did you smell that? It smells so flavorsome. 
4. Now time to add the fried bhindis to the masala. Add all bhindis to the masala and swirl it with a spatula well so that the masala is properly mixed with bhindi. add salt according to taste, around 1 teaspoon. Let it cook for another 3-4 minutes but yes, keep swirling the bhindi masala from time to time and make sure the masala does not stick to the pan, or otherwise, it may burn, turning our recipe into a disaster.
5. Garnish the bhindi masala with finely chopped garlic and fresh coriander leaves. 
6. Serve it hot with roti/chapati or rice. It goes well with jowar (Sorgulam) roti as well.
7. Happy eating, enjoy the dish, and let me know your experiences in the comments below.

Thank you for stopping by. I will be posting more dishes, So Stay Tuned and Stay Healthy.

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